By JENNY MICHAEBy JENNY MICHAEL

A New Salem man will serve one year of house arrest after pleading guilty to Class AA felony continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Joey Kunkel, 30, entered a guilty plea to the charge on Wednesday at the Burleigh County Courthouse.

South Central District Judge David Reich accepted a plea agreement between Morton County Assistant State's Attorney Brian Grosinger and Ralph Vinje, Kunkel's defense attorney. Under the agreement, Kunkel received a sentence of 10 years with nine years suspended and five years of supervised probation.

Kunkel will be under house arrest during his one-year sentence, and he will be allowed to go to work as well as court-ordered alcohol and drug treatment and sex offender treatment. He also has to pay $1,025 in court fees.

Kunkel was charged with the offense after a girl told officers she had consensual sex with Kunkel five times from December 2004 to June 2005. The girl was 13 years old at the time and told officers Kunkel was aware of her age.

Grosinger said the prosecution's case included no physical evidence, so the testimony of the victim would have been important in proving Kunkel's guilt. However, authorities from Social Services had asked Grosinger to "avoid putting the victim in a position where she had to testify," he said.

By accepting the plea agreement, "We don't have to worry about the risk of acquittal," he said.

Kunkel is considered a moderate- or low-risk offender, Grosinger said. Kunkel will be required to register as a sex offender.

Vinje said Kunkel's house arrest will include monitoring by a company out of Fargo that provides telephones equipped with Breathalyzers, because a presentence investigation turned up evidence of Kunkel's drug and alcohol problems.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)